For much of its existence, British pop has been dependent on new scenes springing forth to refresh and revive it, and to create new youth cults. Some of these scenes – mod, punk, new romantic, glam – became part of pop history. Many, many others did not. So what happened to the musicians who found themselves leading a scene that was forgotten almost as soon as it started? We talked to five people who should know.

The mod revival

What was it? A collection of bands during 1979 and 1980 who followed in the Jam's footsteps by adopting mod imagery and punking-up their take on 1960s R&B. The 1979 film Quadrophenia, based on the Who's album, sparked nationwide interest in all things mod.

Our expert witness Ian Page, vocalist and keyboard player with Secret Affair: "I was a 16-year-old kid when punk was invented. I sat in the Roxy with Steve Strange and Siouxsie, but quickly realised that they were middle class and not really out for revolution at all. I caused a lot of controversy with the line 'I hate the punk elite' in Time for Action, but that's what they were to me: dressing scruffily because it was a novelty, not because they were poor.

"People like me and Paul Weller liked the energy of punk but didn't like out-of-tune guitars or people who couldn't sing. When I was really young my brother had been a suedehead and I'd loved the look – Ben Sherman shirts and Sta-Prest trousers. So I came up with this concept: smart London street kids into playing 60s-type music but in a more aggressive manner. We were aspirational – working-class kids saying we could look and feel as good as anybody with money. But the music press were incredibly hostile – I don't think they understood what made working-class people angry – and pop was dividing into other camps, like new romantic. The scene both made the band and killed the band, but years later, when Blur and Oasis emerged with the same music and iconography, I felt vindicated. When we reformed we realised this mod thing never really stopped."

Romo

What was it? The subject of a notorious 1995 Melody Maker front cover that proclaimed a "future pop explosion" had "executed" Britpop. Cynics thought it was just microwaved new romantic.

Our expert witness Dickon Edwards, guitarist and vocalist with Orlando: "We'd come straight from another scene (the indiepop scene) as a band called Shelley. But I was more into Take That, ABC and Soft Cell and wanted to do a pop band. I moved to London and started going to the clubs. I'd always liked making myself look pretty, and I wore a stripe under my left eye in tribute to Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes from TLC.

"Melody Maker journalist Simon Price had started writing about Dex Dexter and Plastic Fantastic and liked the look of us, too, before he'd heard a note. It wasn't as contrived as it seems, with hindsight – it was just a coming together of the peacocks of Camden. We think Saint Etienne's manager coined the term Romo, and Simon Price gave it the 'backronym' of Romantic Modernism. But when you name a scene, it's like putting a butterfly in a cage: you've got it, but you've killed it.

"I remember furious arguments about whether we should go on the Melody Maker Romo cassette tape, but before the internet it was the only way to get heard. The tour was a lot of fun – all of us on one bus – but the gigs were notoriously underattended. We were the only band from that scene that actually released an album.

"Afterwards I tried to look normal, in case that made me happier, but it was soon back to the bleach and suits. Looking back, the whole thing was out of time – it was at the height of Britpop, too late for new romantic and too early for Scissor Sisters.

"But now indie kids wear eyeliner, and La Roux's makeup is pure Romo. Her image is of her only friends being the 1980s stars on her bedroom wall, which is the spirit of Romo. Although we were all friends, it was a weirdly lonely scene. The scene lesson is to be nice to everyone, rather than standoffish and aloof."

Pub rock

What was it? Bands in London pubs playing rough-and-ready rock, blues and country in the early- to mid-70s. Widely seen as a precursor to punk.

Which bands? Brinsley Schwarz, Ducks Deluxe, Bees Make Honey, Eggs Over Easy, the 101'ers, Kilburn and the High Roads and many more.

The biggest hit? Years after the scene, Brinsley Schwarz's (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding became a huge hit for Elvis Costello and Curtis Stigers.

Our expert witness Bob Andrews, keyboard player with Brinsley Schwarz: "Pub rock was a backlash against the big megatours and flashy guitarists of the time. Our manager Dave Robinson saw Eggs Over Easy at the Tally Ho pub in north London and brought them to our house. These guys were playing their own songs and lots of covers and we realised we could do the same. At that time there wasn't a lot of gigs available in London and pub rock was basically a breeding ground for bands to play.

"Six months after we started at the Tally Ho it was packed, and we ventured around the country. There was a lot of affinity between bands – we all watched each other's gigs. The gigs were pretty rowdy, but it was such a laugh. We'd play for hours. It was an underground thing and the press labelled it 'pub rock'. That's when it got attention.

"The record companies descended, but the records didn't reflect the gigs and that was a problem for a lot of the bands. Some of the bands broke up and others lasted a long time. Dr Feelgood came out of that scene, and Ian Dury with Kilburn and the High Roads. Joe Strummer was in the 101'ers. Those gigs were a breeding ground for punk. Before that there wasn't live music everywhere, like there is now. In a way, pub rock was a precursor of the bedroom music and MySpace phenomenons. It gave musicians a chance to be heard."

Rockabilly revival

What was it? Rockabilly revived in the 1970s as a raw reaction against prog and disco – Shakin' Stevens and the Sunsets recorded Peel sessions and supported the Stones – but it never made the mainstream. In the early 1980s, however, a new generation of rockabilly groups made the charts.

Which bands? The Polecats, Matchbox, Whirlwind, the Rockats, and in the US, the Stray Cats and the Blasters

The biggest hit? Runaway Boys by the Stray Cats (No 9, 1980)

Our expert witness Martin "Boz" Boorer, guitarist with the Polecats:

"I saw Chuck Berry in 1976, but in 1977 I was also watching punk bands. We started playing a mix of Buzzcocks and rockabilly songs, but we thought we'd better go one way or the other. In 1978 I was selling our first handmade record in the sixth-form common room, but when the Stray Cats came over they got loads of press and it all blew up for us.

"Our music was wild, and the gigs were raucous. I remember one in Portsmouth where this bloke stood up and said, 'It's got to be possible for us all to get along together!' and he was hit on the head by a glass.

"But mostly I remember good times. Our first album went top 30, and I thought it was to go on for ever. I'd started playing guitar to T.Rex and glam records, and we had the idea of doing Jeepster and John I'm Only Dancing, stripped down. The covers got a mixed reception on the scene. People spat at us in nightclubs. We'd been playing all over Europe – but the gigs were drying up and the label stopped putting records out. It was fizzling out and everyone had latched on to something else. I was a bit depressed at the time. Then I got a call to play guitar with Morrissey. But there's still a big rockabilly thing around the world and the Polecats get back together every year."

Brit funk

What was it? As the name suggests, a wave of British funk that swept the nation in the late 1970s and 1980s. Writer Robert Elms commented that, for all the attention on punk, it was actually the age of the soul boy.

"I saw a picture of Kool and the Gang, and when the guy over the road got a trumpet, I paid for it in instalments. We used to love walking around carrying our instrument cases. It was like a badge of honour, like we were in a fellowship. The difference between us and the American funk bands was they were top session players. We had no idea how we were supposed to play, but we had that energy. We didn't have costumes that looked like Earth Wind and Fire and we didn't put on fake American accents, which was the done thing at that time.

"The first Brit funk record was Hi Tension by Hi Tension, who formed around the time we did. We were very young – when we signed to Ensign the bass player was 15. Our ambition had been to get in the Blues & Soul chart but suddenly we were headlining Top of the Pops. But there were eight – sometimes 12 – of us on stage, and we were on meagre wages. I remember we'd just headlined the Hammersmith Odeon and the sax player was in the manager's office threatening to load the office equipment into his car unless we got paid.

"We split into factions to make money [Wellington was one of three members who formed Beggar & Co; three others formed Incognito]. One day a recording engineer from LA said, 'You guys sound funny, man.' We realised we needed to practise six hours a day, and by doing that we outlived the scene. If you look at the credits for Heaven 17, Ultravox and Spandau Ballet's Chant No 1, we're on a lot of those records. We toured with the Jam. You can hear Brit funk in everything from Wham! to Haircut 100, even Mark Ronson. But hardly any young kids are playing brass themselves. I'm thinking of getting into schools to teach them. 'Pick up a trumpet, not a knife.' It changed our lives and we're all still in music."